Convert attic or pay off part of mortgage with SSIA?

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teasup

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I live in a 3 bed semi and decided to look at the possibility of coverting our attic. It will cost about €25k (cheapest price). Also the box room will lose space because of the new stairs. I cant help thinking that if I pay €25k (from our SSIAs) off our mortgage it may be better in the long run - saving interest. I mean if I convert the attic will it increase the property by €25k? We have two young children but can imagine when they get older may love the idea of getting away from their parents by 'hanging out' in the attic!!!

All thoughts and comments appreciated?
 
Re: Covert attic or pay off part of mortgage with SSIA?

Bear in mind a converted attic will often not qualify as a room because of low average ceiling height and emergency exit issues. As such, the house may not subsequently be sold as a four-bed house. And if you lose space from the boxroom, you may actually convert your 3-bed house into a two-bedroom-and-a-small-cot house. Generally, good attic conversions are sold with beds in them to illustrate that they are serviceable, but without certification as a room they won't add serious value. You should have this checked: if you have a sufficiently high roof, you may get lucky and it might qualify legally as a room if carefully converted. If it doesn't, then a straight cost benefit analysis would suggest you're better off paying a lump sum from the mortgage... but if this is your long term house, will you care?? Your real question should be "Is it worth it to us, for the way we live in the house and the time we plan to be here?" - and only you can answer that!
 
Re: Covert attic or pay off part of mortgage with SSIA?

Thats why we are hesitating about the attic conversion - it will not be classified as a 4th bedroom. And of course losing space in the box room to me nearly defeats the purpose. Added to this, I would love to move house for more space but stamp duty would restrict us. We have €100k left on our mortgage & tens years remaining and if we paid €25k I can't help thinking it would knock off years and losts of interest.
 
Re: Covert attic or pay off part of mortgage with SSIA?

Given that, I'd pay it off the mortgage (and I suspect that you were already thinking that way really?). Depending on who your mortgage is with, they may - and probably will - unless specifically instructed, leave your mortgage term the same and reduce your payment. So if you do decide to pay the lump sum off the mortgage, make sure to talk to your mortgage provider, and either have them formally reduce your term [note that your payment will then increase in line with any interest rate increases, so factor that into any calculations] or set your payment at a level you're financially comfortable with where you have the flexibility to increase at your own discretion. Unless things change a lot, it should probably bring your maturity date forward by somewhere around 4 years, which is a nice position to be in!
 
Re: Covert attic or pay off part of mortgage with SSIA?

why not try an on-line mortgage calculator and let that tell you exactly how much you will save? suggest keeping term and current payment the same, even after lump sum knocked off (if you do this), as you are not restricted then. That way, you can pay the reduced monthly payment over same term and have more disposable income, or you can keep paying same amount as now over same term and finish mortgage early...
 
Re: Covert attic or pay off part of mortgage with SSIA?

I went sale agreed on an house with a large attic conversion when I got the engineers report the house contravened loads of building regulations. Simple thingss like you have to have special fire proof doors a special smoke system smoke alarms wont do.THere was also an issue with the foundations and the roof trusses being cut.As statd by someone else the size of the window space relative to the floor area and the height of the windows.Bottom line the attic conversion decreased the value of the house I pulled out this was in July and the house remains on the market Have a look at Duncan from about the house he dealt with this issue last week.
 
...would agree with Irishgolfer. It does sound expensive. Also by getting other quotes you might get a more workable soloution from a different builder.
 
Believe it or not €25k was about the average with somebody we felt happy with. Neighbours of ours paid €30k+. The builders quoting lower prices seemed inexperienced or dodgy. Our wooden supports would have to be cut and reconstucted added to the costs. Not to mention maturing SSIAs being a factor!
 
25K. Wow. We just got ours done and it cost on €16k. Started on monday finished friday afternoon. very very good job. We did lose a bit of space in the box room but we can still fit a single bed and a decent wardrobe will still enough room for a toy box.
 
Just an idea for you but I seen a nice conversion done were they used a spiral staircase,they would of haven to knock into box room for a stairs but the sprial staircase solved this. This sprial was put just outside box room door and didnt get in way whatsoever.
 
Hi,
We just had our attic converted and seem to be in a similar situation as yourself. (3 bed semi, lost a little bit of boxroom, mortgage around 100k, SSIA just in)
The conversion cost under 20k and was done by http://www.theatticman.com/ who I would highly recommend.
OK, the room does not qualify as a 4th bedroom but dosent mean it cant be used as one (for visitors), or for a variety of other purposes.
We also then increased our mortgage payments to shave 7 years off the mortgage.
Remember also to think of quality of life. An extra room in the house -especially with 2 kids - could be worth so much more in peace & quiet etc, than just thinking in monetary terms.

Cheers.
 
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